Summer in Bozeman has been busy. The streets, trails, and rivers have seen a lot of activity and so has the Real Estate market. Pricing has been on the rise along with overall sales activity. Along with the rise in activity level, we’ve also seen a rise in the ratio of sold price to asking price.

The days of making low offers have pretty much come to a halt around the valley. For the first six months of 2015, the ratio of asking price to sold price has risen to an average of over 98% for single family homes in Bozeman. This means that if a home were listed for $100,000, on average it would sell for $98,000. This is up from a low in 2009 of 95%. During the years of 2010 through 2012, it hovered in the 96% range before beginning to rise in 2013.

There will always be a few outliers that throw the average off. I actually feel that the real average may be a bit higher than 98%. Homes that are priced right are often selling for asking price or even above if multiple offers are generated. Of the 457 homes that sold during the first 6 months of this year, 68 of them, or roughly 15%, sold for more than asking price.

The market continues to remain active even late in the summer. This is the time of year when MSU parents that have been unsuccessfully looking for something for their MSU students start to get frantic to find a place. Therefore, condos, townhouses, and properties near campus are in high demand.

The rental market is also staying very strong even with the recent addition of hundreds of new rentals in and around town. A lot of people have speculated whether or not the rental market can absorb some of the larger rental properties that are being built, but most of them are full by the time they’re completed. Anecdotally, I’m still hearing frustration on the part of many would-be renters that finding available rentals is still extremely challenging.  

As usual, I have included data for the number of single family homes sold during the first six months of 2015. In addition to the 457 single family homes sold during this time period, another 202 homes are currently pending, or under contract, as of the date of writing this article.

The included data reflects sales of homes in the greater Bozeman area, including Four Corners, Gallatin Gateway, Bridger Canyon, and Bozeman city limits. The data includes home sales reported through the local Southwest Montana MLS, and does not include private party sales, Condominiums, or Townhouses.